Brindisi, other Reps. meet with Trump on shutdown

Samantha Madison

Wednesday

Jan 16, 2019 at 4:57 PMJan 16, 2019 at 11:28 PM

U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi is one of a handful of bipartisan representatives who met with President Donald Trump and other top White House officials Wednesday to discuss potential compromises that could end the partial government shutdown.

Brindisi said the meeting was productive and he thinks it will move the shutdown discussion forward.

“Both sides listened to each other and believe there is a way forward to end the shutdown,” he said after the meeting. “My goal is to get the government up and running and then we have to have serious discussions about border security. As long as the government is closed, I think our security, safety and economy are at risk.”

Wednesday’s meeting came a day after rank-and-file Democrats rejected an invitation to the White House for lunch, despite reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats they could accept the invitation.

Roughly 15 representatives — who are all part of the Problem Solvers Caucus — met for about an hour Wednesday afternoon in the situation room with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, members of customs and border patrol and other members of the White House staff.

Democratic members who were in attendance at the meeting included Brindisi as well as Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Thomas Suozzi, Vincente Gonzalez, Dean Phillips, Max Rose and Abigail Spanberger. There were nine Republican members of the House in attendance at the meeting, as well, including New York Reps. Thomas Reed II and John Katko. Names of the other Republicans in attendance were not immediately available.

When the meeting was over, Sanders tweeted that it had been constructive and that both sides now have a good understanding of what the other side wants.

“The President and his team had a constructive meeting with bipartisan members of the problem solvers caucus. They listened to one another and now both have a good understanding of what the other wants. We look forward to more conversations like this.”

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec)January 16, 2019

Brindisi said it was a good experience and everyone was paying attention to each other.

“I think it was a very productive meeting and that both sides had a chance to listen to one another,” he said. “As I said during the campaign, I’m going to work with Democrats and Republicans to try and get things done, so that’s why I went to the White House today to listen to the president. I think (Trump) was very receptive and I believe there’s a willingness to compromise on both sides, but we have to start talking to one another.”

The government has been partially shut down since Dec. 22, because Trump wanted federal funding for his border wall but Congress refused to pass a continuing resolution that would do so.

Over the past 26 days, Trump has threatened to veto bills that don’t include the $5 billion in funding he has demanded, and the Senate has refused to bring those bills to a vote on the floor.

Members of the Democrat-controlled House passed two bills last week that would have allowed at least part, if not all, of the government to reopen, but the Republican-controlled Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, will not vote on the legislation.

According to The Associated Press, the House on Tuesday rejected a Democratic-sponsored bill to reopen the federal government through Feb. 1.

The bill is one of two that Democrats proposed this week to end the partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22. The second bill would reopen federal agencies through Feb. 28.

The House voted 237-187 in favor of the bill, but the measure failed because it did not have the required two-thirds support, the AP said.

As a majority, Democrats have been firm in their opposition to a wall being built along the southern border and have refused to negotiate with the president on the issue until after the government is reopened.

Brindisi agrees that the government needs to be reopened before discussions about immigration and border security can be discussed, but he is not opposed to a physical barrier in some places across the southern border.

“I can support a physical barrier in areas where the experts tell us that makes sense, but that alone is not going to strengthen our borders,” Brindisi said. “We need to have more investment in technology and more border agents.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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